This section describes how to set up complete replication of a
MySQL server. There are a number of different methods for setting
up replication, and the exact method to use depends on how you are
setting up replication, and whether you already have data within
your master database.

There are some generic tasks that are common to all replication
setups:

If you are already running a MySQL server, and therefore
already have data that must be transferred to your slaves
before replication starts, have not previously configured the
binary log and are able to shut down your MySQL server for a
short period during the process, see
Section 17.1.1.8, “Setting Up Replication with Existing Data”.